It has been another wretched week for the game in Australia, with the Queensland superstar Greg Inglis suspended by his club Melbourne after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend. Perhaps the league lovers who have been so consistently let down by the behaviour of what remains a minority of players can take some consolation from the rich contribution of a few class Aussie acts to last weekend's memorable Challenge Cup semi-finals.

Michael Monaghan, Matt King and Chris Hicks were key figures in Warrington's breathless win against Wigan in the first semi, but even they were eclipsed by the performance of Brett Hodgson as Huddersfield stunned St Helens the following day – a result that was also down in no small measure to the influence of Nathan Brown, the Giants' Australian coach who made his own small slice of cup history by dressing for the match in open-necked shirt, funky brown shoes and equally expensive-looking jeans.

As a result, Hodgson and Brown will pit their wits against Monaghan, King and Hicks at Wembley on 29 August – perhaps the highest-calibre line-up of Aussie talent in a Challenge Cup final since Brett Kenny and John Ferguson took on Peter Sterling and John Muggleton in the 1985 Wigan-Hull classic.

Chatting to Monaghan and Hodgson in their moments of triumph was a warm and fuzzy reminder of the international significance of the cup, or more specifically the Wembley final. Monaghan recalled being woken up with his younger brother Joel by their father ("a footy tragic") to watch the live coverage of that 1985 final, and received a text from them within minutes of the final hooter in Widnes – they'd watched the semi together back in Canberra, and dad would definitely be needing a ticket for Wembley.

Hodgson also reflected on childhood memories of watching the BBC pictures in the early hours of a New South Wales Sunday morning in May, and is clearly thrilled by the prospect of tasting the British game's Wembley showpiece first hand.

Their success could be timely, not merely to provide an uplifting contrast to the Inglis scandal, but to show a new generation of Australian players the potential benefits of a stint in the northern hemisphere.

Admittedly, there has been no shortage of Aussies in the Super League in recent years, but the main appeal seems to have been the pound's strength against the dollar, allied to some clever tax arrangements to make a short European stint even more lucrative.

Now the exchange rate is less appealing, the image-rights loopholes have been closed, and playing in England would no longer seem to be an option for any Aussies with a criminal record, thanks to a crackdown by the UK Borders Agency. Presumably that means British Super League clubs might have to strike Inglis from any future shopping list, although the Catalans Dragons may still be willing and able to sign him on the evidence of this year's enthusiasm to offer a refuge to Greg Bird.

But the sight of Hodgson, Hicks, King and Monaghan playing in front of about 80,000 in the Wembley sunshine will surely show that forsaking the cutting edge of the NRL and State of Origin need not necessarily be a disastrous career move. Monaghan and King admit there have been times during the last couple of years when they have regretted their big-money moves to Warrington, but their admirable determination to hang in there will now be rewarded.

As with Huddersfield's transformation under Brown this season to unlikely but genuine contenders for a league and cup double, the appointment of an Australian coach has been crucial in finding overdue fulfilment for Monaghan, King and Warrington in general.

Tony Smith may have secured a British passport to prove his commitment to the game in this country following his appointment as England coach in 2007, but he developed his coaching philosophies in Sydney with St George and Parramatta, and all current evidence – from Brown's brilliance at Huddersfield to Mick Potter's appointment by St Helens following his success with the Catalans, and less happily the problems encountered this season by James Lowes at Warrington, Steve McNamara at Bradford and Richard Agar at Hull – would suggest that British coaches remain as far behind their Aussie counterparts as ever.

The best bets to take over from the old guard of Brian Noble and John Kear – still the only British coaches, with Ellery Hanley, to have won major trophies in the Super League era – may now be the likes of Paul Anderson and Kieron Purtill, who are assistants to and therefore learning from Brown and Potter respectively.

Australian rugby league may have spent too much of the last few years reeling from self-inflicted off-field damage, but the Super League remains in thrall to it for good reason.